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During early wars between Islamic army vs Persian army in 634 AD, war elephants were crucial strategic weapons employed on the Persian side to rattle the horses
by Abishek_Muthian 6y ago
During early wars between Islamic army vs Persian army in 634 AD, war elephants were crucial strategic weapons employed on the Persian side to rattle the horses of their opponents as the horses of Islamic army had never seen an elephant before.
Though the strategy worked, Persian side still lost as the Islamic army regrouped and specifically targeted the carriage harness to topple the rider, blinded the elephants and made them run amok causing disarray within Persian faction or straight away killed the elephants with skilled warriors[1].
[1]https://youtu.be/r2cEIDZwG5M?t=3863 https://youtu.be/r2cEIDZwG5M?t=3863
- fakedang 6y agoTo be fair to the Persian elephants, a large part of the Islamic victory against Persia was not because of any superior skill but because of severe infighting among the Persians. When the Arabs invaded, Persia was literally in the middle of a civil war. Soldiers and generals would betray their commanders midway during battles, and there was often zero coordination. The Romans on the other hand... lots of hubris and underestimating. There were some brilliant strategies employed by the Arab generals that are even thought in military schools to this day. For example, the time when Khalid bin Walid conquered the walled city of Antioch - without siege weaponry, but by drawing the Romans out by cunning.